Indiana University Athletics
Johns Looks Ahead to No. 10 Penn State
11/11/2016 5:16:00 PM | Football
By: Ben Segelbaum
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Last Saturday, the Indiana football team notched its fifth win at Rutgers behind a strong offensive outing vs. Rutgers. Hoosiers offensive coordinator Kevin Johns touched upon the victory and Saturday's matchup with No. 10 Penn State at noon EST on ABC (ESPN2).
IU used 20 second-half points to pull out a 33-27 victory over the Scarlet Knights, behind redshirt junior quarterback Richard Lagow's halftime adjustments.
"(Lagow) did a good job in the second half settling down," Johns said. "Our defense did such a phenomenal job of getting the ball back time after time, we had a lot of chances at it and we kept plugging away. I think it's good for him to grow up and feel that, to feel what it's like to not play your best, but still be in a Big Ten game and find a way to win at the end."
Johns has seen how much improvement the unit has made as a whole as the season has progressed.
"When you talk about what we've been missing, its been some of those 11-man total operations," Johns said. "It was Rich making the shot, it was the receivers making the catch, but it's the O-line protecting, the running backs stepping up blocking linebackers and all those things came together. If we can continue to do those things, we have a chance to win these next couple of games.
Lagow's second-half adjustment set junior running back Devine Redding up for two touchdowns of his own. With 793 rushing yards and three regular season games left, Redding is nearing back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons.
"I think it's huge for the program," Johns said. "For us as a staff and us as an entire team, I think that speaks volumes. Not only with coach Greg Frey with the offensive line, but running backs coach Deland McCullough being a part of that run game, Devine working hard. I think there's so many things that go into that, to us it is something we're hoping is a standard and we can continue to build on every single year."
According to Johns, Penn State comes to Bloomington as one of the hottest teams in the country.
"I think they're playing as well as anyone in the country right now," Johns said." I think they're playing with extreme amount of confidence, you can tell that they're well-coached, they don't give up a lot of big plays, and there aren't a lot of mistakes. I don't see a lot of weaknesses in their defense. Their D-Line is solid, I think their backers are as good as we've seen. Their secondary is experienced and they play well together. This team right now is as hot as anybody right now in the country."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Last Saturday, the Indiana football team notched its fifth win at Rutgers behind a strong offensive outing vs. Rutgers. Hoosiers offensive coordinator Kevin Johns touched upon the victory and Saturday's matchup with No. 10 Penn State at noon EST on ABC (ESPN2).
IU used 20 second-half points to pull out a 33-27 victory over the Scarlet Knights, behind redshirt junior quarterback Richard Lagow's halftime adjustments.
"(Lagow) did a good job in the second half settling down," Johns said. "Our defense did such a phenomenal job of getting the ball back time after time, we had a lot of chances at it and we kept plugging away. I think it's good for him to grow up and feel that, to feel what it's like to not play your best, but still be in a Big Ten game and find a way to win at the end."
Johns has seen how much improvement the unit has made as a whole as the season has progressed.
"When you talk about what we've been missing, its been some of those 11-man total operations," Johns said. "It was Rich making the shot, it was the receivers making the catch, but it's the O-line protecting, the running backs stepping up blocking linebackers and all those things came together. If we can continue to do those things, we have a chance to win these next couple of games.
Lagow's second-half adjustment set junior running back Devine Redding up for two touchdowns of his own. With 793 rushing yards and three regular season games left, Redding is nearing back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons.
"I think it's huge for the program," Johns said. "For us as a staff and us as an entire team, I think that speaks volumes. Not only with coach Greg Frey with the offensive line, but running backs coach Deland McCullough being a part of that run game, Devine working hard. I think there's so many things that go into that, to us it is something we're hoping is a standard and we can continue to build on every single year."
According to Johns, Penn State comes to Bloomington as one of the hottest teams in the country.
"I think they're playing as well as anyone in the country right now," Johns said." I think they're playing with extreme amount of confidence, you can tell that they're well-coached, they don't give up a lot of big plays, and there aren't a lot of mistakes. I don't see a lot of weaknesses in their defense. Their D-Line is solid, I think their backers are as good as we've seen. Their secondary is experienced and they play well together. This team right now is as hot as anybody right now in the country."
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